The present invention relates generally to navigation systems and more particularly to a navigation system providing a web interface to a user.
Vehicle navigation systems generally include one or more sensors, such as a GPS sensor, indicating the present position of the vehicle relative to a map database of roads. The navigation system typically includes a database of points of interest (POI) to which the user can choose to be routed, such as restaurants, hotels, etc.
Current POI databases are very dynamic and it is difficult to keep navigation systems updated with complete and accurate data. This problem is compounded in a fleet application such as rental cars because the vehicles are not easily accessible to perform frequent updates.
There are several reasons that POI databases become outdated. Establishments open and close frequently. Establishments have address or phone number change. POI listings can have data entry errors that need to be corrected. Sometimes POI categories are assigned to the POIs inconsistently and need to be corrected.
Currently in order to find a POI in a navigation system, the user may first select a category, such as “restaurants.” The user may further limit the search by choosing a city. The user then begins entering the first few letters of the name of the desired destination. When the user has entered enough characters so that the list is a manageable length, a list of destinations meeting the search criteria is displayed to the user. The user then picks the desired destination from the list.
The current user interface has several potential drawbacks. First, sometimes the user is unsure to which point of interest category the desired destination belongs. Thus, the user may have to try more than one point of interest category. Second, the user may be unsure of the correct spelling of the point of interest name.